Bernice
About Bernice
Rarely heard today-- it fell off the list around 1980--Bernice is a biblical name of Greek origin. In the Bible, she is a sister of King Agrippa.
Bernice was a Top 100 name in the US for more than three decades--from 1900 to 1936--hitting a high of Number 39 in 1921. Last year in the US, fewer than 50 baby girls were named Bernice.
The original spelling of the name was Berenice, the name of the wife of Ptolemy I of Egypt, and it's also the name of a fourth century saint. Berenice Abbott was an important twentieth century photographer, and Bernice was the birth name of Bea Arthur. One of F. Scott Fitzgerald's best remembered short stories is "Bernice Bobs her Hair."
Bernice has a plethora of nicknames--you can take your pick of Berry, Benny, Bernie, Binnie and Bunny.
Pronounced ber-NEES.
As of October 2026, Bernice ranked #4082 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #39 in 1921, Nameberry popularity #672.
Editor's take: The name Bernice is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "she who brings victory".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #2,689 | 65 | 36.4 |
| 2015 | #3,004 | 57 | 31.9 |
| 2016 | #3,108 | 53 | 29.9 |
| 2017 | #2,516 | 71 | 41.1 |
| 2018 | #2,685 | 64 | 37.6 |
| 2019 | #3,007 | 54 | 32.2 |
| 2020 | #3,553 | 42 | 26 |
| 2021 | #3,116 | 52 | 31.7 |
| 2022 | #3,655 | 42 | 25.6 |
| 2023 | #4,059 | 36 | 22.4 |
| 2024 | #3,821 | 39 | 24.1 |
| 2025 | #4,082 | 35 | 21.8 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Bernice.
- Roberta
- Phyllis
- Geraldine
- Alberta
- Olga
- Pauline
- Gladys
- Dora
- Norma
- Francine
- Georgette
- Edna
- Claudette
- Doris
- Shirley
- Maryellen
- Pamela
- Bertha
- Barbara
- Thelma
Bernice on lists
Famous Bernices
- Bernice Ackerman
first woman weathercaster in the US
- Bernice Bing (1936
1998), Chinese,American abstract expressionist artist who was also an activist in the San Francisco lesbian and gay community of her era
- Bernice Pauahi Bishop
Hawaiian princess
- Bernice Burgos
video vixen
- Bernice Claire
American actress
- Bernice Fisher
American civil rights activist
- Bernice "Fitz" Fitz
Gibbon, American ad writer
- Bernice Frankel
birth name of actress Bea Arthur
- Bernice Thurman Hunter
Canadian children's author
- Bernice Jan Liu
Canadian,Hong Kong actress; Miss Chinese International 2001
- Bernice Albertine King
daughter of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Bernice Morgan
Canadian novelist
- Bernice L. Neugarten
American psychologist
- Bernice Rubens
Welsh novelist
- Bernice Zamora
American Chicana poet
- Agnes Bernice Martin
abstract painter
Bernice in pop culture
- Bernice Surprise "Benny" Summerfield
Doctor Who book character
- Bernice Kimmelman
character in movie "Domestic Import"
- Bernice Halper
Luann's BFF in comic strip "Luann" by Greg Evans
- Bernice
a successful writer of cheap tales, the wife of newspaperman John Stockton in "Dark Laughter" (1925) by Sherwood Anderson
- Bernice Pruitt
character in the 1998 film 'Hope Floats'
- "Bernice Bobs Her Hair" (1920)
short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Bernice "Bernie" Clasky
character in the film, "Spanglish"